New Project Completion in St. Louis

One of my favorite things about being an interior designer is being able to give my clients the space that they truly want and feel connected with. My recent living room project in St. Louis for some friends turned clients that we met in Hawaii was the perfect example of this.

Carl met the couple on a plane to Hawaii and the three hit of them hit it off. After sharing some drinks over at their house in Hawaii and enjoying each others’ company, we all got to know each other well and quickly became friends. Two weeks later, I received an email from our new friends requesting that I to come to St. Louis and redesign their living room. Their house was originally built in the 80s and they felt it was in need of a colorful and contemporary updated look.

Wanting to help our friends out, I headed over to St. Louis for a day to take measurements and photos and get to really get to know their vision. The couple had a beautiful space with vaulted ceilings that had a lot of potential. The one thing our friends’ requested was that we kept the sailfish. The beloved fish were caught by his grandfather and it was important to him that they remain in the room.

Once I made it back to Hawaii, I devised a design plan and made some renderings. Understanding the amount of significance and sentimental value that the sailfish held for our clients, I was inspired by the beautiful deep blue fins of the sailfish for my design. I knew I wanted an updated contemporary look that incorporated a tasteful pop of color and class.

Creating renderings, or representations of a finished project, in my opinion, is incredibly valuable for interior design projects. Not only do they help my clients visualize the end result, it also takes any worry or uncertainty out of the equation. Being able to see the transformation before the project even begins is extremely reassuring to people. Once the clients saw my renderings of their living room, they instantly fell in love and didn’t want to change a single thing. They were very anxious to get started on the project so I set back out to St. Louis for the installation.

When I arrived, I started by transforming the color blocked walls to a more modern neutral tone. Wanting to give the windows an easy modern update, I painted over the outdated oak window sills with a fresh coat of white. The new color instantly created a completely different feel that lengthened the look of the walls. The oak pillared fireplace was replaced with a minimal glossy stoned fireplace with a built-in TV. The dark wood floors were switched out for light wood to really complete the design.

I relied on the floors and furnishing to bring in some color. I wanted to add something unique and contemporary to the space and came up with the idea of stitching two different carpets together to make a one-of-a-kind area rug. The clients absolutely loved how unique and eye-catching it made their space look. As far as the layout of the space, I went with the less-is-more mentality. By eliminating bulky pieces that took up unnecessary space, the space felt a lot less cluttered and fresh.

Finally we added the most important piece --- the sailfish. Carl was "all in" when it came to installing the centerpieces! He hiked up high on the ladder and placed the two prized possessions together for the perfect finishing touch to the room to add some spirit to the place. I always love including art and objects to personalize the space from my client's travels and treasures. Even though design is about change and transformation, it is also about creating a space that is truly yours. My work is all about making people happy and I’m proud to say the St. Louis project was another success story.